Monday 17 May 2010

Photographic art versus photography


Didn't know there was a difference...or considered it, but check this out. I was watching a show on the weekend about photographers and the different types of photography. One bloke get up in choppers and just clicks away. Some you and me could do and really those ones came across as really just getting access to the areas. Stunning photos, for sure, but altitude + a camera = his.

Then on the show I saw this photo that just blew me away. I. Just. Went. WOW.

Click to make it bigger.



What a moment to capture. Obviously a HUGE moment in this guy's life and the photographer was THERE and snapped it....

Turns out, it was staged, a production. It's what Gregory Crewdson does and his images are AMAZING, but for some reason the fact that it's a pose seems to lessen it for me.

Then there's this one by Andrew Moore. For some reason, it now says WAY more than the production photo.


Kinda weird I spose, and a little bit picky, but I don't reckon I'd spend money on a posed photo trying to capture emotion.

2 comments:

  1. I don't pose photos or re-arrange to get a shot. I zoom in or find a good angle (not always possible...) but I don't really think too much when I'm shooting other than, "That looks cool."

    It is later when I see them on the screen that I "see" the feelings.

    Posing isn't just for fashion, Moko. I suppose it is a talent to manufacture feelings in a photo, like the way a writer or a singer can make you feel.

    The top photo evokes a feeling for one person. The second photo makes us wonder about the many people (or critters) it took to arrange that room over a long period of time.

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  2. Yeah, you're right. I didn't look at it that way. I guess it's no different to someone like Andy Warhol constructing a large can and what it means. The art is the seed and your mind grows it into whatever you get from it.

    Problem is, you never find out the story with the photo. At least a book you get answers. lol

    Cheers.

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